Control program providing method using communication system, center apparatus in communication system, user apparatus in communication system, and program recorded on recording medium in user apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method includes creating process data which constitutes at least a portion of the control program and describes the execution contents of the communication functions, and parameter data which constitutes a different portion of the control program from the process data portion and is used to describe individual setting information of user in accordance with the process data, in the center apparatus, sending the process data and the parameter data from the center apparatus to the user apparatus via the communication network, receiving the process data and the parameter data from the center apparatus, then describing input individual setting information in the parameter data to create the control program, in the user apparatus, recording the resulting control program onto a recording medium, and reading the control program from the recording medium and setting the read control program in the communication equipment as requested by the user, in the user apparatus.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-155935, filed May 30, 2003,the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a control program distributing methodwhich distributes a-control program from a center apparatus as acommunication equipment manufacturer that manufacturers communicationequipment, such as private branch exchanges and button telephone sets,to a user having communication equipment through the use of acommunication system and sets the control program in the communicationequipment of the user, a center apparatus that provides transmissioncontrol of the control program, a user apparatus provided with thecommunication equipment, and a program recorded on a recording medium inthe user apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

In offices, schools, business places, and so on, a large number ofpieces of communication equipment, such as electronic private branchexchanges, button telephone sets, etc., is used. When purchasing thesepieces of communication equipment, users will generally selectcommunication equipment having functions required at that time built in.

After commencement of use of such communication equipment, however, itsometimes becomes necessary to makes additions to the functions ofcommunication equipment according to augmentation of the staff, changingof the range of business, or the like or to remove unnecessaryfunctions. In such a case, according to a conventional practice, theuser will request manufacturer's customer center to make additions tothe functions of communication equipment. Accordingly, a customerengineer will travel on business to the place where the communicationequipment is installed to perform there the work of adding desiredfunctions to the communication equipment.

With such a method, however, the greater part of the work fromacceptance of the request made by the user for changing the functionsuntil the functions are changed depends on the human work by thecustomer engineer; thus, it takes a lot of time and labor from when arequest is made by the user for changing the functions until changing ofthe functions is completed.

In recent years, a system has been proposed which distributes a controlprogram to communication equipment over a communication network to allowit to perform arbitrary functions (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI PublicationNo. 2003-087422). According to this system, additions or changes to thefunctions of communication equipment can be made without the need for amanufacturer's customer engineer to go to the place where thecommunication equipment is installed.

With this system, however, a programmer in the communication equipmentmanufacturer has to prepare a control program to meet the user'srequirements. However, since the environmental requirements vary fromuser to user, the preparation of the control program requiresinvestigation of the user and consideration of the setting environmentof the communication equipment. This takes a lot of time and involves ahigh cost. Further, the burden on the programmer is great; that is, theprogrammer is required of experience and expert knowledge.

On the other hand, the user will need expert knowledge to understand thecontents of the control program distributed from the communicationequipment manufacturer and consequently take a lot of time and labor toset the control program in the communication equipment.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a controlprogram providing method using a communication system, a centerapparatus in the communication system, a user apparatus in thecommunication system, and a program recorded on a recording medium inthe user apparatus, which allow function setting for each user to beperformed quickly and appropriately, thereby allowing the cost on theuser side to be reduced, the work of function setting to be lightened,the time required for function setting to be reduced, and the cost andlabor in the center apparatus of the communication equipmentmanufacturer to be lowered.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod for used with a communication system including a user apparatushaving communication equipment which is selectively set a controlprogram performing arbitrary communication functions, and a centerapparatus which is connected to the user apparatus via a communicationnetwork and performs function setting support work on the communicationequipment, the center apparatus providing the control program to theuser apparatus via the communication network, the user apparatus settingthe control program in the communication equipment, comprising: creatingprocess data which constitutes at least a portion of the control programand describes the execution contents of the communication functions, andparameter data which constitutes a different portion of the controlprogram from the process data portion and is used to describe individualsetting information of user in accordance with the process data, in thecenter apparatus; sending the process data and the parameter data fromthe center apparatus to the user apparatus via the communicationnetwork; receiving the process data and the parameter data from thecenter apparatus then describing input individual setting information inthe parameter data to create the control program, in the user apparatus;recording the resulting control program onto a recording medium; andreading the control program from the recording medium and setting theread control program in the communication equipment as requested by theuser, in the user apparatus.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedA center apparatus connected over a communication network to a userapparatus having communication equipment which is selectively set acontrol program performing arbitrary communication functions,comprising: a creator which creates process data which constitutes atleast a portion of the control program and describes the executioncontents of the communication functions, and parameter data whichconstitutes a different portion of the control program from the processdata portion and is used to describe individual setting information ofuser in accordance with the process data; and a transmitter whichtransmits the process data and the parameter data to the user apparatusvia the communication network, to cause the user apparatus to describeindividual setting information in the parameter data.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided A user apparatus having communication equipment which isselectively set a control program performing arbitrary communicationfunctions, and connected via a communication network to a centerapparatus which performs function setting support work for thecommunication equipment, comprising: a receiver which receives processdata which constitutes at least a portion of the control program anddescribes the execution contents of the communication functions, andparameter data which constitutes a different portion of the controlprogram from the process data portion and is used to describe individualsetting information of user in accordance with the process data, sentfrom the center apparatus via the communication network; a creator whichcreates the control program by describing input individual settinginformation in the parameter data and records the resulting controlprogram onto a recording medium, when the receiver receives the processdata and the parameter data from the center apparatus; and a controllerwhich controls to read the control program from the recording medium andsets the read control program in the communication equipment asrequested by the user.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a program recorded on a recording medium in a user apparatushaving communication equipment capable of performing arbitrarycommunication functions and connected through a communication network toa center apparatus which performs function setting support work on thecommunication equipment, and including process data in which theexecution contents of the communication functions have been describedand parameter data in which individual setting information that variesfrom user to user is to be described, comprising: means for instructingthe user apparatus to describe the individual setting information in theparameter data, when the individual setting information is entered; andmeans for instructing the user apparatus to perform communicationfunctions described in the process data, when the individual settinginformation has been set in the parameter data and the process data andthe parameter data have set in the communication equipment.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectsand advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means ofthe instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed outhereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a communicationsystem for implementing a first embodiment of a control programdistribution method of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a stored contents of a user database;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a stored contents of a data storage unit;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a sequence of transmit and receiveoperations among the main apparatus BT and the personal computer PC inthe user system CMA, the service center CC, and the credit company CR;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a sequence of transmit and receiveoperations among the main apparatus BT and the personal computer PC inthe user system CMA, the service center CC, and the credit company CR;

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the personal computer PC in theuser system CMA and the service center CC;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the service center CC;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a structure of the control program;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure carried out by the personalcomputer PC in the user system CMA;

FIG. 10 is a view showing display the process data and the parameterdata in script form;

FIG. 11 is a view showing a procedure of purchasing process of controlprogram;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a procedure in which the service center CCpurchases a control program stored in the storage unit in the mainapparatus BT in accordance with a first embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a procedure in which the service center CCpurchases a control program stored in the storage unit in the mainapparatus BT in accordance with a second embodiment of the presentinvention.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate presently preferred embodiments ofthe invention, and together with the general description given above andthe detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serveto explain the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be describedhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First Embodiment]

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a communication system forimplementing a first embodiment of a control program distribution methodof the present invention. In this diagram, CMA indicates a user system,CC indicates the service center of an exchange manufacturer, and CRindicates a credit company.

The user system CMA is equipped with a main apparatus BT, a personalcomputer PC and a router RT. The main function of the main apparatus BTis to interconnect telephone terminals (not shown) and interconnectthese telephone terminals and the subscribers' lines of the publictelephone network not shown. In addition to this main function, the mainapparatus BT has a plurality of optional service functions associatedwith the interconnection (switching) processing.

The router RT is connected through a provider ISP to the Internet INW towhich the service center CC is connected.

The service center CC is equipped with a control server CSV, a userdatabase DB, a router CRT, a data storage unit DM, which areinterconnected by a LAN. The control server CSV is connected through therouter CRT to the Internet INW to communicate with the user system CMAunder contract regarding function setting. The control server CSV isconnected with the credit company DR by, for example, a private line tosettle accounts with the credit company CR for the charge for functionsetting.

In the user database DB, as shown in FIG. 2, an identification number(user ID), an IP address, set functions of the main apparatus BT(including functions that can be set), an equipment identificationnumber as private information and a password as authenticationinformation are allocated for each user and stored in the form of atable.

In the data storage unit DM, various pieces of process data thatdescribe the contents of exchange control in the user's main apparatusBT are stored as shown in FIG. 3.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a sequence of transmit and receive operationsamong the main apparatus BT and the personal computer PC in the usersystem CMA, the service center CC, and the credit company CR.

In function setting of the main apparatus BT, the user makes access tothe service center CC over the Internet INW using the personal computerPC and enters necessary items associated with the function settingaccording to information on a screen downloaded from the service centerCC. The necessary items to be entered are information indicatingfunctions to be set and the user ID. Upon termination of entry of thenecessary items, a function acquisition request containing theseinformation is sent to the service center CC over the Internet INW.

Upon receiving the function acquisition request, the service center CCsends to the personal computer PC a request to enter the credit numberand the password for authentication. In response to the entry request,the user enters the credit number and the password through the use ofthe personal computer PC, whereupon the personal computer PC sends theseinput information to the service center CC.

The service center CC determines the validity of the user on the basisof the user's password and, if there is no problem, makes a comparisonbetween the functional information contained in the function acquisitionrequest and the set function information stored in the user database DBto make a decision of whether or not functions that the user desires toacquire can be set. If the functions can be set, then the service centerCC reads the corresponding process data from the data storage unit DMand creates parameter data for describing individual setting informationthat varies from user to user according to the process data andpresentation control data (support tool) that allows the process dataand parameter data to be displayed in script form. The process data, theparameter data and the presentation control data are then sent to therequesting personal computer PC. At this point, the process data, theparameter data and the presentation control data are enciphered usingthe function identification number retained in the user database DB asprivate information.

Upon receipt of the process data, the parameter data and thepresentation control data from the service center CC, the personalcomputer PC deciphers them using the equipment identification numberallocated to itself and then displays the process data and the parameterdata on a monitor (not shown) in script form in accordance with thepresentation control data. When the user terminates entry of individualsetting information to fill in the blanks in the parameter datadisplayed on the monitor, a control program is prepared from the processdata and the parameter data and then stored in a storage unit (notshown), such as a hard disk, a RAM, or the like. The control program isread from the storage unit and set in the main apparatus BT as requestedby the user. Upon completion of setting of the control program, thepersonal computer PC returns to the service center CC a message to theeffect that the function setting process has terminated normally.

Upon receipt of the termination message, the service center CC accessesthe credit company CR to make a request to bill the charge for functionsetting. At this point, the service center CC calculates the charge foreach function which the user wanted to set and which has been actuallyset and creates an electronic bill specification. This electronic billspecification is sent to the credit company CC in the form it isincluded in the bill request information.

Upon receipt of the bill request information, the credit company CRperforms a process of accepting the bill request on the basis of theuser's credit number and the electronic bill specification included inthe bill request information. Upon termination of acceptance of the billrequest, the credit company CR returns to the requesting service centerCC sends an acknowledgement that the bill request has been accepted.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the personal computer PC in theuser system CMA and the service center CC.

The personal computer PC in the user system CM is provided with arequest transmitting section 11, a request receiving section 12, aninformation transmitting section 13, a data receiving section 14, a datadeciphering section 15, a function setting section 16, and a messagesending section 17. The request transmitting section 11 sendsinformation concerning functions the user desires to acquire and afunction acquisition request containing the user ID to the servicecenter CC.

The request receiving section 12 receives a request to input the creditnumber and the password which is sent from the service center CC inresponse to the function acquisition request. When the user inputs thecredit number and the password in response to the request-to-input, theinformation transmitting section 13 sends these input information to theservice center CC.

The data receiving section 14 receives the process data, the parameterdata, and the presentation control data sent from the service center CC.The data deciphering section 15 deciphers the received process data,parameter data, and presentation control data by using the equipmentidentification number assigned to itself.

The function setting section 16 creates a control program whenindividual setting information from the user has been written in theparameter data and sets it in the main apparatus BT upon request. Whenthe setting of the control program in the main apparatus BT iscompleted, the termination message presentation section 17 presents amessage to that effect to the service providing section CC.

The control server CSV in the service center CC is provided with arequest receiving section 21, a request-to-input sending section 22, aninformation receiving section 23, a data creating section 24, a dataenciphering section 25, a data transmitting section 26, a messagereceiving section 27, and a billing section 28. The request receivingsection 21 receives a request for function acquisition sent from theuser system CMA. Upon receipt of the request for function acquisition,the request-to-input transmitting section 22 sends to the requestinguser system CMA a request to input the credit number and the password.The information receiving section 23 receives the credit number and thepassword sent from the user in response to the request-to-input.

When the user is validated through the password, the data creatingsection 24 compares the function information contained in the functionacquisition request and the function setting information in the userdatabase DB to decide whether or not the function that the user desiresto acquire can be set. If it is possible, the data creating section 24reads corresponding process data from the data storage unit DM and thencreates parameter data and presentation control data.

The data enciphering section 25 enciphers the process data, theparameter data, and the presentation control data on the basis of theequipment identification number assigned to the user for the purpose oftransmission to the user system CMA. The data transmitting section 26sends the process data, the parameter data, and the presentation controldata thus enciphered to the user system CMA.

When the message receiving section 27 receives from the user system CMAa message that setting of the control program in the main apparatus BThas been completed, the billing section 28 performs an account(settlement) procedure in conjunction with the credit company CR on thebasis of the user's credit number to draw the charge for creation of theprocess data, the parameter data, and the presentation control data andsetting of functions from the user's bank account.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the service centerCC. The processing operation of providing a control program havingfunctions that the user desires is carried out in accordance with theprocedure shown in steps ST7 a through ST7 e.

The control server CSV in the service center CC monitors the arrival ofa function acquisition request from the user system CMA (step ST7 a).Upon arrival of the function acquisition request (YES in step ST7 a),the control server CSV sends to the requesting user system CMA a requestto input a credit number and a password (step ST7 b) and then monitorstheir reception from the user system CMA (step ST7 c). If a passwordarrives and this matches the password entered in the user database DBfor the user (YES in step ST7 c), the control server CSV reads processdata for the corresponding functions from the data storage unit DM, thencreates parameter data and presentation control data (step ST7 d) andsends the process data, the parameter data, and the presentation controldata to the requesting user system CMA (step ST7 e).

Thus, as shown in FIG. 8, the user system CMA is supplied with theprocess data and the parameter data division-produced from a controlprogram (call control instructions) which is to carry out an exchangecontrol process.

If, on the other hand, a credit number and a password do not arrivewithin a fixed length of time or an incoming password does not match anyone of the passwords entered in the user database DB (NO in step ST7 c),then the control server CSV notifies the requesting user system CMA thatthe password is in error or it is not allowed to provide the processdata, the parameter data and the presentation control data. In theabsence of the corresponding process data in the data storage unit DM instep ST7 d, process data corresponding to functions the user desires arecreated anew.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure carried out by thepersonal computer PC in the user system CMA.

To obtain the supply of a control program corresponding to desiredfunctions, the user causes the personal computer PC to carry out theprocesses in steps ST9 a to ST9 g. First, the personal computer PC makesaccess to the home page of the service center CC to receive a selectionscreen (panel) (step ST9 a). When the user clicks on the Functionsetting on this screen (step ST9 a), the user is prompted to input theuser ID and functions that he desires to acquire (step ST9 c). Uponcompletion of entry, a function acquisition request containing the inputinformation is sent to the service center CC.

The personal computer PC monitors the arrival of the process data, theparameter data, and the presentation control data in step ST9 d. Uponreceipt of these data from the service processing center CC, thepersonal computer PC displays the process data and the parameter data inscript form as shown in FIG. 10 (step ST9 e). The user is thus allowedto enter individual setting information, such as telephone numbers/IPaddresses, so that they are described in parameter data. The script maybe displayed in Japanese or any other language (for example, English) asrequested by the user.

Suppose here that the user has entered the individual settinginformation into the personal computer PC. Then, the personal computerPC goes from step ST9 f to step ST9 g, then combines the process dataand the parameter data having the individual setting informationdescribed to create a control program and sets this control program inthe main apparatus BT as needed.

Upon completion of setting of the control program in the main apparatusBT, the personal computer PC sends a setting completion message to theservice center CC. If there is no need of setting the control program inthe main apparatus BT at the time of creation in step ST9 g, it isstored into a storage unit.

If the user performs other processing than entering individual settinginformation in step ST9 f, then the personal computer PC terminatesprocessing.

The control program stored in the storage unit in the main apparatus BTis purchased by the service center CC, which is carried out inaccordance with such a procedure as shown in FIG. 11.

That is, the user inquires of the service center CC over the InternetINW whether it will purchases the control program which has becomeunnecessary. If there is no objection to it, the service center CC sendsto the user system CMA from which the inquiry originated over theInternet INW a request to send the unnecessary control program. Uponreceipt of this request to send, the personal computer PC reads thecorresponding control program from the storage unit in the mainapparatus BT and then sends it to the service center CC over theInternet INW.

Upon receipt of the control program, the service center CC divides thecontrol program into the process data and the parameter data, thenstores the process data into the data storage unit DM and eliminates theindividual setting information from the parameter data.

The purchased process data will be provided to another user system CMBthat demands a control program (call control instructions) similar tothe main apparatus BT in the user system CMA. In the user system CMB,the process data thus provided will be utilized as it is and onlyindividual setting information will be described in the parameter dataas shown in FIG. 12.

According to the embodiment, as described above, in carrying outfunction setting control of the main apparatus BT for each user, theuser system CMA sends information concerning functions the user desiresto acquire and a function acquisition request containing the user ID tothe service center CC. In response to this, the service center CCcreates process data in which the contents of the functions aredescribed and parameter data in which individual setting information isto be described for each user and then sends them to the requesting usersystem CMA over the Internet INW. The user system CMA creates a controlprogram to be set in the main apparatus BT by describing individualsetting information in the parameter data.

Therefore, the service center CC is allowed to share in the controlprogram creation processing with the user system CMA. This allows theuser to perform the function setting in the main apparatus BT within ashort length of time and at low cost and the center to significantlyreduce labor and cost required for function setting.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment, in the user system CMA, processdata and parameter data are displayed on the monitor of the personalcomputer PC each time they are received from the service center CC. Theuser fills in the blanks in the displayed parameter data with individualsetting information, such as telephone numbers/IP addresses, to create acontrol program and sets this control program in the main apparatus BT.Therefore, even if the control program is one to carry out functionsthat the user desires to acquire, the user does not have to set it inthe main apparatus VT when there is no need at present to set it in themain apparatus BT. Moreover, since the process data and the parameterdata are displayed in script form on the monitor of the personalcomputer PC, the user simply enters individual setting information intothe parameter data through screens easy to see and understand. Thus, thelabor and time required to create the control program can be reduced andany user is allowed to create the control program through simpleoperations.

In addition, in the service center CC, a decision is made as to whetheror not functions can be set in the main apparatus BT through the use ofthe set function information stored and managed in the user database DB;thus, an appropriate function setting process can be carried out using asimple procedure.

In the first embodiment, the settlement of the account for the creationof process data, parameter data and presentation control data and thesetting of functions can be performed automatically between the servicecenter CC and the credit company CC over the communication network onthe basis of the credit number sent from the user. Thus, the work ofaccount on the side of the service center CC can be lightened.

Also, in the first embodiment, when the process data, the parameter dataand the presentation control data are sent from the service center CC tothe user system CMA, they are enciphered using the user's equipmentidentification number previously entered into the user database DB. Forthis reason, it becomes possible to prevent false or unauthorizedfunction setting even in case of erroneous transmission of process data,parameter data and presentation control data to a different user systemor the theft of these data addressed to a different user system by athird party.

In addition, in the first embodiment, prior to transmission of theprocess data, the parameter data and the presentation control data, theuser's password entered into the user database DB in the service centerCC is utilized to verify the identity of the user. Thus, the validity ofthe user can be confirmed with certainty prior to transmission of theprocess data, the parameter data and the presentation control data.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, since the user can have theservice center CC purchase a control program which was prepared byhimself and has become unnecessary, he can get the money correspondingto the contents and evaluation of the control program. This will givethe user an additional incentive to control program creation. For theservice center CC, on the other hand, since the control programpurchased from the user can be utilized to create process data andparameter data for another user, the processing load can be reducedcorrespondingly and the number of subscribers to the communicationsystem is expected to increase.

[Second Embodiment]

FIG. 13 shows a procedure in which the service center CC purchases acontrol program stored in the storage unit in the main apparatus BT inaccordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

That is, the user inquires of the service center CC over the InternetINW whether it will purchase the control program which has becomeunnecessary. If there is no objection to it, the service center CC sendsto the user system CMA from which the inquiry originated over theInternet INW a request to send the unnecessary control program. Uponreceipt of this request to send, the personal computer PC reads thecorresponding control program from the storage unit in the mainapparatus BT, then divides the control program into process data andparameter data and eliminates individual setting information in theparameter data. After that, the control program is sent to the servicecenter CC over the Internet INW.

Upon receipt of the control program, the service center CC divides thecontrol program into the process data and the parameter data and thenstores the process data into the data storage unit DM.

The purchased process data will be provided to another user system CMBthat demands a control program (call control instructions) similar tothe main apparatus BT in the user system CMA. In the user system CMB,the process data thus provided will be utilized as it is and onlyindividual setting information will be described in the parameter data.

According to the second embodiment, as described above, the controlprogram is sent to the service center CC after the individual settinginformation in the parameter data has been removed by the user, allowingthe privacy protection to be strengthened.

[Other Embodiments]

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described sofar. For example, in the embodiments, the service center sends processdata, parameter data and presentation control data over the Internet INWto the user system CMA which has made a contract in advance in order toperform functions the user desires to acquire; however, this is notrestrictive. The process data, the parameter data and the presentationcontrol data may be sent as requested by a user having no contract. Inthis case, the request may be received from the user by telephone,facsimile, or mail.

Although the embodiments have been described as the service centersending process data, parameter data and presentation control data to auser system as requested by the user, this is not restrictive. Processdata, parameter data and presentation control data may be sent to theuser each time the version of setting function information entered inthe user database DB is updated.

In the embodiments, each time process data, parameter data andpresentation control data is received, the user system displays theprocess data and the parameter data in script form and prompts the userto fill in the blanks in the parameter data with individual settinginformation. This is not restrictive. The individual setting informationmay be previously entered in the storage unit in the main apparatus BTor the personal computer PC. In this case, at the time when process dataand parameter data are received, the individual setting information maybe read from the storage unit and automatically described in theparameter data. This eliminates the need for the user to create acontrol program with manual processing; that is, the control program canbe created automatically using the previously stored individual settinginformation.

Although the embodiments have been described as the user inquiringwhether or not the service center CC will purchase a unnecessary controlprogram, the service center CC may inquire of each user as to whether heor she has an unnecessary control program every week or month.

Although, in the embodiments, the credit number is sent from the userbefore process data and parameter data are received, this is notrestrictive. The credit number may be stored in the user database DB insuch a way that it is associated with the user ID. In this case, thecredit number can be read from the user database DB on the basis of theuser ID sent from the user. The user's credit number need merely be sentonly when user information is entered in the user database DB. This willeliminate the anxiety that someone may steal a glance at the creditnumber over the communication network, resulting in increased security.

Although the embodiments have been described in terms of an example ofenciphering process data, parameter data and presentation control datausing an equipment identification number assigned to the user, this isnot restrictive. Use may be made of private information other than theequipment identification number presented to the user from the servicecenter CC. In this case, the service center CC would present the privateinformation to the user by telephone or mail.

Additionally, the control program creation and distribution procedure,the communication system configuration, the contents of the userdatabase, and the type of the communication equipment (main apparatus)can be modified variously without departing from the spirit or scope ofthe invention.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects isnot limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shownand described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventiveconcept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. A method for used with a communication system including a userapparatus having communication equipment which is selectively set acontrol program performing arbitrary communication functions, and acenter apparatus which is connected to the user apparatus via acommunication network and performs function setting support work on thecommunication equipment, the center apparatus providing the controlprogram to the user apparatus via the communication network, the userapparatus setting the control program in the communication equipment,comprising: creating process data which constitutes at least a portionof the control program and describes the execution contents of thecommunication functions, and parameter data which constitutes adifferent portion of the control program from the process data portionand is used to describe individual setting information of user inaccordance with the process data, in the center apparatus; sending theprocess data and the parameter data from the center apparatus to theuser apparatus via the communication network; receiving the process dataand the parameter data from the center apparatus, then describing inputindividual setting information in the parameter data to create thecontrol program, in the user apparatus; recording the resulting controlprogram onto a recording medium; and reading the control program fromthe recording medium and setting the read control program in thecommunication equipment as requested by the user, in the user apparatus.2. A center apparatus connected over a communication network to a userapparatus having communication equipment which is selectively set acontrol program performing arbitrary communication functions,comprising: a creator which creates process data which constitutes atleast a portion of the control program and describes the executioncontents of the communication functions, and parameter data whichconstitutes a different portion of the control program from the processdata portion and is used to describe individual setting information ofuser in accordance with the process data; and a transmitter whichtransmits the process data and the parameter data to the user apparatusvia the communication network, to cause the user apparatus to describeindividual setting information in the parameter data.
 3. The centerapparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a receiver whichreceives a request including function information representing functionsthat the user desires to acquire and subscriber information assigned tothe user apparatus by the communication network, wherein the creatorcreates the process data and the parameter data based on the functioninformation, and the transmitter transmits the process data and theparameter data to the user apparatus via the communication network,based on the subscriber information.
 4. The center apparatus accordingto claim 2, further comprising: a database which stores a subscriberinformation assigned to the user apparatus by the communication network,and function information representing the functions of the communicationequipment in such a way that they are made to correspond to individualidentification information previously assigned to the user; and areceiver which receives a request including a contents of changes tofunctions and the individual identification information, wherein thecreator reads corresponding function information from the database basedon the individual identification information, and creates the processdata and the parameter data based on the read function information andthe contents of changes to functions included in the request, and thetransmitter reads the corresponding subscriber information from thedatabase based on the individual identification information included therequest and then transmits the process data and the parameter data viathe communication network to the user apparatus based on the subscriberinformation.
 5. The center apparatus according to claim 2, furthercomprising: a request transmitter which transmits a request for user'sbank account identification information to the requesting user apparatusprior to transmission of the process data and the parameter data, whenadapted to communicate an accounts organization via the communicationnetwork; a receiver which receives the bank account identificationinformation from the user apparatus which has received the request; anda processor which processes to perform an account process of drawing thecharge for function setting from the user's bank account based on thebank account identification information, when the control program hasbeen set in the communication equipment.
 6. The center apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein the transmitter enciphers the process dataand the parameter data using a private information and then transmitsthe enciphered process and parameter data to the user apparatus, inresponse to the private information from the user.
 7. The centerapparatus according to claim 4, wherein the database storesauthentication information for providing authentication of the userapparatus to correspond to the individual identification information,and the transmitter requests the requesting user apparatus to send theauthentication information prior to transmission of the process data andthe parameter data, then compares the authentication information sentfrom the user apparatus with the authentication information stored inthe database and, when match occurs, transmits the process data and theparameter data to the user apparatus.
 8. The center apparatus accordingto claim 2, further comprising a purchaser which purchases the controlprogram from the user apparatus, and wherein the creator divides thepurchased control program into the process data and the parameter data,and eliminates individual setting information described in the parameterdata.
 9. The center apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the creatorcreates a presentation control data that allows the process data and theparameter data to be presented in script form as requested by the user,and the transmitter transmits the process data, the parameter data, andthe presentation control data to the user apparatus via thecommunication network.
 10. The center apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the creator creates process data in which the contents of a callcontrol process related to interconnection of telephone terminals aredescribed and parameter data in which individual setting information isdescribed in accordance with the process data, when the communicationequipment is a telephone exchange which carries out the call controlprocess.
 11. A user apparatus having communication equipment which isselectively set a control program performing arbitrary communicationfunctions, and connected via a communication network to a centerapparatus which performs function setting support work for thecommunication equipment, comprising: a receiver which receives processdata which constitutes at least a portion of the control program anddescribes the execution contents of the communication functions, andparameter data which constitutes a different portion of the controlprogram from the process data portion and is used to describe individualsetting information of user in accordance with the process data, sentfrom the center apparatus via the communication network; a creator whichcreates the control program by describing input individual settinginformation in the parameter data and records the resulting controlprogram onto a recording medium, when the receiver receives the processdata and the parameter data from the center apparatus; and a controllerwhich controls to read the control program from the recording medium andsets the read control program in the communication equipment asrequested by the user.
 12. The user apparatus according to claim 11,wherein the creator presents the process data and the parameter data tothe user, then, creates the control program by describing the inputindividual setting information in the parameter data, and records theresulting control program onto the recording medium when individualsetting information to be described in the parameter data is entered bythe user.
 13. The user apparatus according to claim 11, furthercomprising a storage circuit configure to store the individual settinginformation, and wherein the creator, upon receiving the process dataand the parameter data, reads the individual setting information fromthe storage circuit, then creates the control program by describing theinput individual setting information in the parameter data, when thereceiver receives the process data and the parameter data from thecenter apparatus.
 14. The user apparatus according to claim 12, wherein,the creator presents the process data and the parameter data to the userin script form based on a presentation control data which allows theprocess data and the parameter data to be presented in script form, whenthe receiver receives the process data and the parameter data andpresentation control data from the center apparatus.
 15. The userapparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a transmitter whichtransmits a request including function information representingfunctions that the user desires to acquire and subscriber informationassigned to the user apparatus by the communication network.
 16. Theuser apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a transmitterwhich transmits a request including the contents of changes to functionsand individual identification information of the user, when the centerapparatus includes a database which stores the subscriber informationand function information representing the functions of the communicationequipment in such a way that it is made to correspond to individualidentification information previously assigned to the user.
 17. The userapparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a presenter whichpresents a private information to encipher the process data and theparameter data to the center apparatus over the communication network,and wherein the receiver receives from the center apparatus the processdata and the parameter data enciphered using the private information andthen deciphers the process data and the parameter data using the privateinformation.
 18. The user apparatus according to claim 11, furthercomprising a transmitter which transmits authentication information tothe center apparatus via the communication network as requested by thecenter apparatus.
 19. The user apparatus according to claim 11, furthercomprising a transmitter which transmits the control program to thecenter apparatus after individual setting information described in theparameter has been eliminated, in response to a request to purchase thecontrol program from the center apparatus.
 20. A program recorded on arecording medium in a user apparatus having communication equipmentcapable of performing arbitrary communication functions and connectedthrough a communication network to a center apparatus which performsfunction setting support work on the communication equipment, andincluding process data in which the execution contents of thecommunication functions have been described and parameter data in whichindividual setting information that varies from user to user is to bedescribed, comprising: means for instructing the user apparatus todescribe the individual setting information in the parameter data, whenthe individual setting information is entered; and means for instructingthe user apparatus to perform communication functions described in theprocess data, when the individual setting information has been set inthe parameter data and the process data and the parameter data have setin the communication equipment.